SCRIPTURAL CLUES ABOUT THE SYMBOLIC MEANING OF LAND AND EARTH
Our first clue about the scriptural definitions of land and earth are found in the Hebrew definition for erets. We find here that there are many different ways to interpret erets. Most of them compare favorably with English words like earth, ground and country that are commonly associated with land. These meanings generally agree with erets being something physical that can be seen and touched.

More important to this study, however, is the fact that erets also refers to people:

• • • • earth (inhabitants)
      • inhabitants of land
      • people of the land

Proceeding from these clues we will next look at a sample of scriptures that confirm the interpretation that erets often refers symbolically to people.

Genesis 6:11-13:  The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt ; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. 13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

COMMENTARY: Obviously God is not saying that the physical earth (i.e. erets) is corrupt or violent. He is referring to the hearts of people being corrupt. That is why he sent the flood. Thus we have a clue that God is not referring to people in general but to people in a spiritual sense.

More particularly, God is referring to the hearts of people. With this understanding, Genesis 6:11-13 can be paraphrased as follows:

God saw that people’s hearts were corrupt and filled with violence. And God looked upon their hearts, and, behold, their hearts were corrupt. Flesh (i.e. religion)  had corrupted his way in their hearts. 13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh (i.e. religion) is come before me; for the hearts of religious people are filled with violence perpetrated by religion. Watch and see: I will destroy their evil, impure hearts and give them new hearts.

See THE MIRACLE OF CREATION: BORN AGAIN  and THE HEART IS THE PLACE for understanding of hearts.

Genesis 11:1-9:  And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. 2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there. 3 And they said one to another, Go to , let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter. 4 And they said , Go to , let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. 5 And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded . 6 And the LORD said , Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do : and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do . 7 Go to , let us go down , and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech. 8 So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. 9 Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.

COMMENTARY: Obviously the physical earth does not speak. Therefore the reference to earth (i.e. erets) is to people. However, because the context here is people who are trying to reach God by human, physical efforts (i.e. religion), we have another clue that God is not referring to physical people but to  their hearts.

Genesis 12:1:  Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:

COMMENTARY: The clear meaning is that Abraham is to leave his people. But because of earlier clues about spiritual people, we should conclude that God is saying to leave the people who have been spiritual mothers and fathers to him. In Abraham’s case, this includes his natural mother and father, but also religious leaders who conducted the religious business of Abraham’s homeland (i.e. Ur of the Chaldees in Mesopotamia)

Genesis 15:8-13:  But he said, “O Lord GOD, how am I to know that I shall possess it?” 9 He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a she-goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10 And he brought him all these, cut them in two, and laid each half over against the other; but he did not cut the birds in two. 11 And when birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, Abram drove them away. 12 As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram; and lo, a dread and great darkness fell upon him. 13 Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know of a surety that your descendants will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs, and will be slaves there, and they will be oppressed for four hundred years;

COMMENTARY: God says that Abraham’s descendants will live in a land (i.e. erets) that is not theirs and implies that the land shall oppress Abraham’s descendants. Obviously physical land will not do the oppression; people will oppress them. We know that this anticipates Israel’s slavery in Egypt, and we know that Egypt symbolically represents religion with multiple gods. Therefore, we have another clue that land in this case refers to religious people.

Genesis 18:20-25: And the LORD said, “The outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is indeed great, and their sin is exceedingly grave. 21 “I will go down now, and see if they have done entirely according to its outcry, which has come to Me; and if not, I will know.” 22 Then the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, while Abraham was still standing before the LORD. 23 Abraham came near and said, “Will You indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24 “Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; will You indeed sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous who are in it? 25 “Far be it from You to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?”

COMMENTARY: The context of earth in verse 25 is wicked people. Obviously God does not judge the physical earth; he judges people because of their sin. More accurately, he judges the hearts of people.

Genesis 21:20-21: God was with the lad, and he grew; and he lived in the wilderness and became an archer. 21 He lived in the wilderness of Paran, and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

COMMENTARY: Obviously Ishmael’s mother did not take a wife out of the physical land but took her out of the people of Egypt.

Genesis 26:1-4: COMMENTARY: Here God uses the symbolism of a famine of food to represent a spiritual famine in the people of Canaan.

STUDY TIP: See this link for understanding of spiritual famine.

Genesis 41:36: COMMENTARY: Obviously, people would perish because of famine — not the physical land. More specifically, the hearts of people perish for lack of hearing God’s spoken word.

Genesis 41:41: COMMENTARY: Obviously Joseph ruled over the people not the physical land. Joseph was a spiritual leader in Egypt who ruled over the hearts of Egyptians and Israel.

Exodus 11:3: COMMENTARY: Obviously physical land does not recognize people, so this means that the Moses was great in the eyes of the people of Egypt.

Exodus 11:5-6: COMMENTARY: Obviously the people cried out, not the physical land.

Exodus 12:12-13: COMMENTARY:  It was male children of Egypt who died — not the land.

Exodus 19:5:  COMMENTARY: The context of this verse is people (i.e. their hearts) — not physical land or earth.

Exodus 23:26: COMMENTARY: The context of this verse is people (i.e. their hearts) — not physical land.

Leviticus 14:34 “When you come into the land of Canaan, which I give you for a possession, and I put a leprous disease in a house in the land of your possession,

COMMENTARY: See this link for the symbolic meaning of leprosy.

Leprosy is not a condition that applies to a literal house. When God refers to a house, he typically refers to a household of people — not to a literal house structure. Therefore, God is saying in this scripture that he will put leprosy in the hearts of people of the land. But, since leprosy is one of many diseases used to represent religion, we interpret this to mean that God allows religion to infect the hearts of his people.

Leviticus 18:3: After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt , shall ye not do: and after the doings of the land of Canaan, whither I bring  you, shall ye not do : neither shall ye walk in their ordinances.

COMMENTARY: Land does not engage in doings. People do things — not land. Use of the pronoun “their” with respect to ordinances, confirms that the land of Canaan is people. Their ordinances refers to their religious laws.

Leviticus 18:25: COMMENTARY: Land is not defiled by iniquity. Evil, impure hearts are defiled by iniquity (i.e. sin.)

Leviticus 19:29: COMMENTARY: Land does not fall to whoredom. People commit fornication and adultery in their hearts. See this link for understanding of sexual sin.

Leviticus 25:2: COMMENTARY: Land does not observe the sabbath. People observe the sabbath. More accurately, the hearts of religious people who are not at rest come to rest when they observe the sabbath.

Leviticus 25:10: COMMENTARY: The concept of liberty applies to the hearts of people — not to land.

Leviticus 26:4-6: COMMENTARY: Land does not need peace. Religious people need peace in their hearts.

Leviticus 26:32-34: COMMENTARY: Land does not observe Sabbaths. People observe Sabbaths. More accurately, the hearts of religious people who are not at rest do come to rest when they observe the sabbath.

Numbers 14:21: COMMENTARY: Physical earth/land is not filled with the glory of God. His home is in the hearts of people — not dirt. Therefore, peoples hearts are filled with God’s glory.

From these and other scriptures we may rightly conclude that Biblical references to “land” and “earth” are to the hearts of religious people — not to the physical land/earth. Therefore, when God sent Israel into the “land of Canaan,” he sent them to live among religious people. Keeping this interpretation in mind will greatly enhance understanding of the Bible — especially the Old Testament.

It is also important for readers to be mindful of the fact that the term “people” includes them (i.e. the reader). It is much too easy for readers to dismiss a scriptural reference to people in general with the assumption that the scripture does not apply to them in particular. The best way to interpret land and earth, therefore, is to say that it refers  to “me” and my spiritual household. Doing this will radically affect how scripture is understood and applied.

But saying that land/earth refers to people does not go far enough. God’s focus is not on the physical person. He always looks at the heart — not the external man. Land, therefore, is a symbolical reference to hearts. The heart is the part of man that is healed and cleansed.

STUDY TIP: See Sickness, Disease, Blindness, and Deafness for understanding of healing.

Understanding that earth symbolizes an evil, impure heart is critical to understanding the Bible. But, because of the many Biblical references to heaven and earth, we must also understand the symbolism of heaven which we must understand as the spiritual opposite of earth. In other words, earth represents evil, impure hearts and heaven represents clean pure hearts.

STUDY TIP: See Heaven and Hell for understanding of heaven.